After the fight of his life against Russia's seemingly unstoppable Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa finds himself returning home to America with not only the realisation that he's suffering from brain damage, but also that he's suddenly facing bankruptcy due to illicit dealings from his accountant. Unable to step back into ring, one last opportunity presents itself in the unlikely form of boxer, Tommy Gunn, a fan of Rocky's who asks the Italian Stallion to manage him and teach him everything he knows.

As one victory follows another, it isn't long before Tommy is eyeing up the heavyweight championship of the world. Along the way however, Rocky becomes so obsessed with tasting success again that he doesn't realise that he faces losing the most important aspect of his life - his family.

Intention:

The intention with this “80’s Cut”, is to try and trim some of Stallone’s over the top performance, remove all of the hip-hop music and replace it with 80’s tunes bringing it more in line with Rocky III and IV, address the issue of Rocky Junior aging about 3 years overnight and present a substantially shortened version of the street fight to make it more realistic.

- Removed scene where Rocky arrives back in the States to a fanfare and press conference.

- Cut scenes when Rocky and family return to the Balboa mansion, also removing scenes with Rocky and his son, plus when Adrian confronts Paulie and tells Rocky about the fact that all their money has suddenly gone. We now go straight from Adrian comforting Rocky in Russia after the fight with Drago to the office meeting with Rocky and his lawyers about the fact that they have suddenly become bankrupt.

- Removed all scenes with Robert (Rocky jnr) when the house is being sold

- After Rocky visits the old gym and remembers his time with Mickey, have trimmed the following scene to remove the shots of Rocky and family moving back to the old neighborhood. Instead, have added “1 year later” caption and we cut to Adrian talking to Duke on the phone.

- Cut Rocky walking his son to school

- Duke talking to Union Cane in his limo, cut.

- Cut Jewel's line to Rocky Jnr, "You know, for an Italian kid you ain't got a bad butt"

it's been a long time since I've seen Rocky V, it's the film that came with the box set that I never had any intention in watching and the general feeling I had was that it is the weakest in the series. While this edit may improve a lot that was wrong with the original film I still found it to be a pretty bad film. The character of Duke is just a Don King rip-off while Tommy Gunn is for me the weakest villain in the Rocky series. And I do believe this is Sly's worst performance as Rocky Balboa, he's almost impersonating the character that I know and loved. The edit it self is extremely well done, I didn't notice any obvious cuts, while the only thing that stood out in terms of a scene that had been removed was when Rocky mentions Duke before we've had the chance to see just who he is.

the problem I have with Rocky V is that there is nothing memorable about the film, with Rocky I it was all about the underdog story, Rocky II had Rocky running with the kids running behind him, the double knock down and we still had a great villain in Apollo Creed. Rocky III introduced the world to Mr T and Hulk Hogan while Rocky VI has way to many memorable moments (I consider it to be one of the best worst movies of all time) while Rocky Balboa was made at a time when Sly's career reflected the character of Rocky. Last Survivors edit certainly gives us something memorable in the form of 80's soundtrack, which complements the edit making it seem a more natural follow up to part VI.

One thing that stood out for me was just how everything occurs within a short time span, most notable the character of Tommy Gunn who appears to have a 22 unbeaten streak within a very short period. It's very noticeable when after the last fight he has with Rocky as his trainer to his title shot match this seems to happen within a week. This is more of a problem with the film than it is with the edit but maybe a couple of title cards here and there showing that time has moved on would have helped, but that would of course would ask the question why his son never ages

Overall this edit is well done and I'm glad that it gave me the chance to watch Rocky V again, however I find myself in a strange situation that I enjoyed the edit but didn't enjoy the film. All I will say is that if your like me, your copy of Rocky V has never been used then this edit is a great excuse to watch Rocky V again. I've briefly listened to the commentary track in which Last Survivor gives an entertaining insight as to the changes he's made

Rocky V is a movie I consider more mediocre and a missed opportunity than utterly terrible. I appreciate the attempt to get back to the roots of what was once the story of an underdog before getting lost in the worst of Hollywood excesses, but aside from what others have pointed out (awful central performance, horrid hip-hop, uncharismatic rival, no Rocky in the ring...) it has all the feel of a failed pilot for Rocky the TV Series, with all the son stuff and the general blandness. But still, there's something strangely endearing about it. And the Burgess Meredith scene is simply wonderful.

And I also love anything 80s. It's the decade I grew up in, and its music gets me back there. Even the kitschiest tunes of the era do so. So, this edit was a winner for me from the get-go. Gone are the worst offenders in the acting, musical, and narrative department, and with the new songs this is about the best version of the movie it's likely to ever exist unless deleted scenes in usable quality surface. It still has much of that TV feel, but it now feels more Rocky than ever. In fact, in this form it would be a really solid entry in the series if it weren't because of Tommy Gunn's complete lack of charisma (maybe Carl Weathers, Mr. T, or Dolph Lundgren weren't the greatest of actors, but they oozed personality.)

The editing itself is flawless. I doubt anyone who had not seen the original would notice this is edited. The only "off" bit happens near the end when Robert Jr. tells Adrian about the street fight, the audio levels aren't completely right there and the music "eats up" the lines slightly, but I understand it had to be that way because of the original music bleeding into the dialog track. Still, the rest is perfect. Too bad it's 2.0 and not 5.1, but good enough. As for the video quality, just as good as the commercial DVD.

A big plus is Last Survivor's feature-length audio commentary. One can feel his passion for the Rocky saga and Stallone movies in general. And I appreciate this sort of bonus feature in an edit, I wish more releases included them.

If you like Rocky and/or the 80s, in my opinion you can't go wrong with this one. Even if you hate Rocky V with a passion, as a lot of people do, I'd say this is worth one watch at least. Someone send Stallone a copy! Vocal as he is about his hatred for the movie, I think he'd like the edit.

An excellent edit with some very nice menus and an audio commentary to boot. I love it when fan editors include commentaries.

Overall I thought this was a very well put together edit. The music was replaced nearly flawlessly -- which often left me wondering how the editor pulled it off. Doing that with the music certainly did alter the feel and give the film a more 80's feel.

The narrative was altered a bit -- fixing some holes and picking up the pace which I appreciated.

To me Rocky 5 always was a flawed movie, but a flawed movie with a heart.
This edit keeps the heart and polish the flaws with success.
It feels a bit short though but nothing feels like missing (maybe a final a bit longuer, because this new version was so great you wanted more, so it's a compliment in a way)
And the winner is.... Last survivor!